Posthumously honored with the Laura Ingalls Wilder Medal for his "substantial and lasting contribution to literature for children," James Marshall began his career in 1972 with this first of his George and Martha books for readers 4 to 7, which inspired an animated television series and a theatrical musical. The lovable hippopotami have five adventures here, all captured in Marshall's droll text and his distinctive ink and watercolor cartoons. The first story involves pea soup (which Martha loves to make but George hates to eat) while the second features a flying machine (essentially a hot air balloon) that doesn't seem to work when George is aboard it. In the third story, George has a bad habit of peeking into windows—a habit that Martha quickly breaks for him—and in the fourth it's George's turn to cure Martha of her own bad habit. Finally, George loses a tooth, and worries about his looks, but Martha knows just what to say to make him feel better.